Lawrence of Oxford

The year is now 1907. In the January, after a final year at school and extra work with a history tutor named L Cecil Jane, TEL once again submitted himself to academic examination and, on 12th October 1907, he entered these doors as an undergraduate of Jesus College.

Jesus College was the first to be founded in Oxford after the Reformation. Letters patent were issued in June 1571 by Queen Elizabeth I at the request of Dr Hugh Price, the son of a Welsh butcher, 'for the maintenance of certain scholars of Wales to be trained up in good letters'. Dr Price's son was evidently among those 'certain scholars', and the story goes that when he was rejected by other colleges in Oxford, his father did what any loving father would do, and built one for him.

This strong Welsh connection continues to this day, and so it was that the accident of TEL's birth in Tremadoc, in North Wales, now came to his assistance in the awarding of a Meyricke Exhibition, available to those of Welsh parentage or birth, his subject being Modern History. Brother Frank was later to benefit similarly from his birthplace, being awarded a King Charles Exhibition, also at Jesus College, for which those born in the Channel Islands were eligible. So those wandering years of the Lawrences proved to be a bonus when it came to the education of their children.

Apart from his studies, TEL was little involved in regular college life. During his one period of residence in college, the summer term of 1908, his room was number 4 off this staircase in the front quad. But for most of his time at Jesus, TEL continued to live at home, in the bungalow built for him in the garden. Here he was able to study through the night, as was his wont, and to work, in his final months as a student, on his thesis on The influence of the Crusades on European military architecture to the end of the twelfth century, which is better known in its published form as Crusader Castles. The original typed copy of the thesis which TEL presented for examination remains in the care of Jesus College.